Canada Gambling Statistics and Trends 2024

By Ciaran McEneaney - Tuesday 8th April 2025 12:24 PM

The Canadian gambling industry is a thriving sector that contributes heavily to the local economy and comprises land-based casinos and sportsbooks, online sports betting and online casino gaming. There are also bingo, raffles and other charitable gaming activities that are legal and regulated on both a national and provincial basis.

Canada Gambling Market Key Statistics

In 2023, the Canadian gambling market was worth approximately CA$14.2 billion, down 3.9% from the previous year due to the long-lasting effects of the global pandemic [1].

However, despite this current downturn, the Canadian gambling industry:

generates around CA$9 billion yearly to fund government and community-based programs and services [2].
employs over 135,000 people [2].
is the largest entertainment segment in Canada [2].

Online Gambling in Canada

Online gambling is technically legal in Canada with each provincial government permitted to legislate for a local regulated online market. Many provinces offer some form of legal online gambling which is available through the government-owned lottery and gaming provider for the region [4].

However, to date, only the province of Ontario has officially launched an online gambling market that allows privately-owned businesses to apply for an iGaming license [3].

The Grey Market

The Canadian government’s stance on offshore (international) gambling websites is that they are not under Canada’s jurisdiction. This means that Canadians are not prohibited from gambling online once their chosen online gambling provider is licensed in its own jurisdiction [4].

This has led to what is known as the ‘grey market‘ in Canada where online gambling websites licensed by global gaming authorities such as the Malta Gaming Authority and the Curaçao Gaming Control Board can offer iGaming products to Canadians. This is because, as they are not physically based in Canada, the government deems that the companies are not breaking local gambling laws [4].

However, this is likely to change in the future should Canadian provinces follow Ontario’s lead and set up their own regulated online gambling markets.

Ontario iGaming Market

The Ontario online gambling market first launched on April 4th 2022 with 13 online providers licensed to operate by iGaming Ontario (iGO) and the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) [3].

There are currently 46 gambling operators licensed in Ontario that offer a mix of sports betting and online casino gaming. In many cases, license holders operate two or more websites offering a range of online gambling products [5].

Key Ontario iGaming Statistics — First Year of Operation

46 licensed online gambling providers [6].
1.6 million active customer accounts [6].
CA$70 average monthly spend per account [6].
CA$35.6 billion in wagers [6].
CA$1.4 billion in combined revenue [6].
Ontario among top 5 iGaming jurisdictions in North America [6].
85% of Ontarian gamblers use regulated websites [6].

Ontario Online Casino Activity

48% of all wagers placed through online slots [6].
32% of wagers on live dealer casino games [6].
19% of wagers placed on virtual table games [6].

Ontario Online Sports Betting Activity

28% of bets placed on Basketball [6].
15% of bets placed on soccer [6].
14% of bets placed on football [6].
9% of bets placed on hockey [6].
8% of bets placed on baseball [6].

In Q1 of FY23-24 (April 1st – June 30th) total wagers came to CA$14 billion. This represented a 243% increase from the $4.076 billion reported in Q1 FY22-23 [7].

iGaming Ontario recently released its quarterly data revealing a significant year-on-year increase in wagers and revenues.

Total wagers – reached $18.7 billion, excluding promotional wagers (bonuses). This marks a 1.6% rise compared to the previous quarter and a substantial 31.7% growth compared to Q2 of the previous year.
Gaming revenue – totaled $738 million, reflecting a 1.7% quarter-over-quarter increase and a 35.4% jump year-over-year. This revenue includes all cash wagers, such as rake fees, tournament fees, and other charges across Operators, minus player winnings from cash wagers. It does not account for operating expenses or other liabilities.
Active Operators and Websites – During Q2, 51 Operators ran a total of 83 gaming websites. You can view the latest list of Operators and platforms with active gaming activities.
Player Activity – Over 1.32 million player accounts were active in Q2. This figure refers to accounts with cash or promotional wagering activity but does not represent unique individuals, as a single player may hold accounts with multiple Operators.
Average Spending – Each active player account spent an average of $308 per month.

Market Segmentation

Casino Games – $16 billion in total wagers (86%) and $553 million in revenue (75%).
Sports and Other Betting – $2.2 billion in total wagers (12%) and $167 million in revenue (23%).
Peer-to-Peer Poker – $417 million in total wagers (2.2%) and $18 million in revenue (2.4%) .

Land-Based Casinos in Canada

All casinos in Canada must be regulated and registered with local provincial lottery and gaming corporations. Casino operators own and run the casinos, but in legal and licensing terms they act as agents on behalf of the lottery corporations [4].

In 2023, there is a total of 121 land-based casinos in Canada that offer some form of casino gaming options [8].

Of that total figure 89 offer table games and slots while 32 offer slots or video gaming machines.

There are 17 First Nations tribal casinos in Canada [9].

British Columbia has the highest number of casinos with 35 [8].

Province	Number of Casinos
British Columbia	35
Alberta	28
Ontario	27
Saskatchewan	9
Quebec	8
Manitoba	7
Prince Edward Island	2
Nova Scotia	2
New Brunswick	2
Yukon Territory	1

Newfoundland and Labrador, Nunavut and Northwest Territories are the only three regions with no commercial casinos.

Ontario has the highest number of slot machines in Canada with 23,750 [8].

Quebec has the highest number of VLTs in the country with 9,900 [8].

Sports Betting in Canada

Sports wagering was legalized in Canada in 1985. However, it wasn’t until the early 90s that local provincial governments took advantage of the legislation and launched sports betting through government-owned agencies and lotteries. At this time, only parlay sports wagering was permitted [10].

In 2021, the Canadian federal government legalized single-event sports betting following the approval of bill C-218. The bill gave provincial governments the power to self-regulate single-event sports betting markets [11] [12].

While single-event sports betting is now available through government-owned lottery corporations throughout Canada, Ontario was the first market to allow privately-owned sportsbooks [3].

There are 25 licensed operators that provide online sports betting in Ontario [5].

Canada Gambling Revenues

In 2023 the Canadian gambling market is expected to generate gross gaming revenue (GGR) of CA$14.2 billion [1].

The most recent net revenue and net income figures (2022) for the Canadian gambling industry according to vertical are listed in the table below [8].

Gambling Vertical	Net Revenue	Net Income
Lottery	$4.5 billion	$2.9 billion
Land-based Casino	$5 billion	$2.1 billion
Video Lottery Terminals (VLT)	$1.7 billion	$1.1 billion
Online	$1.3 billion	$607 million
Total	$12.6 billion	$6.7billion

The most recent figures show that charitable gambling generated net income of CA$691.4 million for Canadian charities [8].

Gambling Participation in Canada

64% of people aged 15 or older (18.9 million people) have reported gambling at least once in the past year [13].

69% of me have gambled in the past year while 60% of women have done so [13].

Gambling is most common in the 45-64 age group with 76% of men and 68% of women having gambled in the past year [13].

Lower income households (53.8%) gamble less often than higher income households (71.5%) [13].

51.8% of Canadians have bought a lottery ticket in the past year [13].

Men are three times more likely to place wagers one sports. 12.1% of men reported betting on sports in the past year compared to 3.9% of women [13].

10.2% of men have wagered on a casino game (online or land-based) in the past year while 4.8% of women have [13].

Problem Gambling in Canada – Stats & Research

While problem gambling affects a relatively small percentage of the Canadian population, research shows that around 304,400 of Canadians who gambled in the past year are at moderate or severe risk for problem gambling [13].

2% of men are at risk of developing a gambling disorder while the rate for women is 1.2% [13].

The Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) for 2023 found that 2% of Canadians aged 15 or older have a gambling problem [14].

73% of Canadians feel that problems associated with gambling have increased in their province [14].

83% of Canadians believe that each individual must control their gambling habits [14].

There is no national self-exclusion program in Canada. However, government-run gambling operators in each province run voluntary self exclusion programs that all customers can join in order to limit their access to gambling businesses [15].

Canada Gambling Industry Fines

Gambling industry fines in Canada are quite rare with only three issued by provincial gambling regulators throughout all of 2022 [16].

So far in 2023, there have been seven fines issued to gambling operators in Canada [16].

The largest fine issued by a gambling regulator in Canada is the CAD$100,000 penalty issued to Apollo Entertainment by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) [17].

Sources

Ciaran McEneaney

Ciaran has been working within the Gambling Industry as a deep analyst since 2019. His deep knowledge and understanding of all the gambling regulations, and processes makes him a true asset, and an always valuable point of view for Gambling Industry News, allowing us to cover every topics from a brand new perspective.